The present invention generally relates to a system for indicating the balance of stored value and, in particular, relates to such a system having means for altering an indicia that represents value.
The use of an indicia that represents a monetary value has become more prevalent due, in part, to the increased availability of electronic funds transfer systems as well as the increased use and availability of electronic telecommunication networks. Further, as the implementation of desk-top, or personal, computers and/or workstations increases, the ability to rapidly dispense such funds has also increased. In one particular industry, to wit: the mailing industry, modern systems thereof are able to process a substantial volume of mail in a relatively short time period. In many such systems there is a postage value storage device, usually secure, wherein a purchased value of postage is stored. The purchased value of postage is depleted as mail is processed. Hence, because mail can be processed rapidly, the purchased value of postage can also be depleted quite quickly. Consequently, some modern mailing systems are provided with a mechanism for automatically initiating the replenishing of funds via an electronic fund transfer. However, numerous postal related systems remain that do not have any form of automatic refunding.
In those systems that lack an automatic refunding capability the operator thereof frequently maintains a record of the remaining postage value available to be used. Failure to maintain such a record can result in the postage funds available to be used being insufficient to continue with a mailing program. This could result in an untimely interruption of work flow until additional funds were secured. In many businesses that process a large volume of mail, such an interruption would be, at the very least, inconvenient and possibly quite costly as well, since, as a result of the shutdown of a mailing system, operator time as well as equipment time would be lost. Further, in those systems to do include automatic refunding, it is often desirable for the operator to be alerted that such a refunding is about to occur so that the interruption of the mailing system can be minimized. Consequently, a system for indicating, for example, to a mail system operator, the balance of stored value is needed to avoid costly interruptions during the processing of mail.